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Ceramic Feature

Sometsuke Sakura Hanaike (染付桜花生)

This is an Arita ware vase which Ryuzumi-san has created.
"Sakura" is one of the flowers that represent Japan, so it's great as a gift in all seasons.
The mouse was divided into six equal parts and is the regular hexagon seen from above.

Sometsuke (染付)
- A pottery with blue pictures and patterns on a white background-

It refers to the skill of blue-painting on a unglazed ceramic.
Patterns are painted with a "gosu" containing cobalt oxide that turns blue color.
And it's baked after being glazed on top of it.

Sometsuke has been made from the early days of Arita ware in 1610s.
At first it was influenced the Chinese pottery, there's a pile of efforts by potters and
today's sometsuke has one kind of exquisite beauty even in its simplicity.